A new agreement
by stev2427
Summary: A twist on the ogre scene! One-shot


I sat by the fire, cleaning the arrow I had used to catch a rabbit. I was pleased with my efforts, having helped to provide my men and myself dinner for once. It had been a clean shot, and would make a good stew. Sir Percival had thumped me on the back, impressed. We didn't really need it; we had come with plenty of provisions, but we stayed on track better if we didn't take too many trips into the small towns scattered around the borderlands with Ayortha. I allowed myself a small smile. It must be hard for my knights to follow a leader who had less experience than some of their own sons, but I was coming into my role.

Suddenly Sir Aubrey came running silently into our camp, his arms waving for everyone's attention. I paused in my work, instantly alert. At his signal, we removed the wax from our ears. We had been traveling with it in the past few days as we tracked the band of ogres.

Sir Aubrey sucked in a breath, trying to whisper while gasping for air. "Maidens, 2 of them… with the… ogres. They're in trouble."

My eyes widened in alarm. What were 2 maidens doing out here in the forest by themselves? Unless… perhaps they had not started out by themselves. In any case, we needed to move quickly.

"How many?"

"8."

Sir Betram swore. _Eight_ ogres? And there were 6 of us. And 2 maidens in trouble. This was not good. To go in would pretty much be walking into death's embrace. I shuddered, fearful. Suddenly all my begging Father to let me go on tours with the military, to give me some experience felt very foolish. The honor of a shiny badge and the glory of coming back victorious from a skirmish faded completely before the prospect that now faced me. Someone was going to die today.

My knights all looked to me. "Your Highness?"

Someone was going to die, and I had to decide who. I swallowed.

"Right. We'll approach quietly. Stick close together until we can assess their position. Wax in."

We moved along, Sir Aubrey leading us towards the ogres' encampment. I had to force one foot to move in front of the other on each step while my body was screaming at me to turn and run the other direction.

We came to the edge of a small clearing. Still hidden in the trees, we looked out upon a horrific scene. 8 ogres filled the clearing, hulking and stinking. They were formed in a loose circle around 2 maidens who clung to each other's arms. The biggest ogre, the leader it must have been, was towering over the girls, reaching down to tilt up the chin of the brown-haired lass with a single finger. Feeling off-balance with the silence, I removed the wax from one ear, but held it ready to jam it back in should we be discovered. The other girl, whose darker skin made me think she was Ayorthan, let out a sob, and harsh laughter ran around the circle of ogres, raising the hair on the back of my neck.

The ogre spoke in Kyrrian, his voice harsh. "Yes, lovely, I think we'll have quite some fun with you. RuSSf here likes it when they squirm." He leered.

I was not sure how to do this. I thought back through my lessons on military tactics. Every lesson on ogres told me to avoid situations like these where we were outnumbered. A single ogre could be a lot for 3 knights to handle. There was more than one of them for each of us. I signaled to my men, and they spread out slightly, flanking me as we crept around the edge of the clearing, trying to gain the slight uphill advantage.

The leader was now running his finger down the side of the Ayorthan maiden's face, and she quaked with fear. "NiSSh, bring me the skinning blade."

"Stop," the other lass spoke commandingly, her voice hoarse with fear but a definite note of authority there.

My head snapped up at the voice. We were on the other side of the circle now and I could see her face. It seemed that even my blood froze in that instant. It was Ella.

My mouth opened slightly in shock. Ella. I had a mad urge to laugh. I'd thought I would never see her again. I'd even assured my knights, who had spent the last week teasing me about her, that is was over and done. That nothing was over and done, I reminded myself. Nothing had ever started. I'd met an interesting girl, we'd become friends – kind of – and she'd gone to finishing school. That was the end.

And now here she was. My prediction of never seeing her again might actually come true if this scene continued unfolding. My knights looked at me in confusion, wondering why I had paused.

"Stop."

Her words affected us all, and even the ogres paused, looking at her. Ella rushed onward, "You don't want to do this."

"Oh don't we?" The ogre dropped his hand from Ayorthan lass and advanced on Ella.

With a barely audible noise of protest I started forward automatically, something like cold panic suddenly gripping me. I felt a hand on my shoulder, pressing me back, and Sir Aubrey looked at me in alarm. I shook myself, and nodded to the men. They each moved to the very edge of the clearing and waited for my signal.

"N-no, you don't," Ella continued. "I can help you."

The ogre's eyes narrowed, but he paused. "How?"

"I know the prince!" Ella practically sang it in her haste. "I can talk to him, tell him about you –"

"And why would we want the prince of Kyrria knowing about us?" He touched the metal of his blade to her skin, almost caressing it. Ella closed her eyes.

I wanted to leap forward and rip him away from her, but I held back, waiting for the right opening. I felt a small spark of pride that our acquaintance was protecting her for the moment.

"You want your rights, don't you?" Ella was clearly thinking quickly. She cast her eyes about the clearing as though looking for inspiration. "I mean, you're intelligent creatures. But you're being threatened by humans. Our lands, our farms, we are encroaching on your forests."

The lead ogre was leaning back on his heels now, studying her. The others were looking around at each other. "uh huh…"

My knights shifted, impatient, but I held up a finger, gesturing for them to listen with one ear too. This was interesting.

"So wouldn't you like some protection? Some guarantee that would stop people from cutting down more of your forests? Then you could hunt wildlife like you normally do and not steal livestock from the farmers. I can get that for you." Her voice was breathless, and though she tried to appear confident, I could sense her uncertainty as she claimed something she truly had no grounds to claim. I pondered though. If it would protect her, I could certainly pretend that she had this power. "I can ask Char…" Her voice faded out breathlessly as the ogre leaned over her again.

"Why would the _King_ listen to his son's little friend?"

"Because," Ella squeaked, "it's a win-win. You get your lands, Kyrria's farmers get a guarantee that you won't steal from them." Then her face brightened in sudden inspiration. "And, with ogres in our borderlands, who would dare to attack Kyrria? It would do him a benefit. He could take his knights off duty to protect citizens from ogres. You would not have to worry about knights raiding you anymore. Everyone benefits."

I marveled at her. This actually was a good plan. A political move that would greatly benefit both Kyrria and the ogres. She was brilliant, even in the face of such danger. The fear that had crossed her features was now replaced by earnestness. She looked so beautiful and brave and out of place that it snatched at my concentration, distracting me. I refocused. Father would approve the plan, but –

"But the relationship would be built on trust. So why don't you start by trusting us?" She laid a hand on her friend's arm, and looked at the ogres beseechingly. They looked at each other again, unsure.

The youngest one complained, "I'm hungry." I wanted to strike him. Listen to Ella!

My knights were now staring at Ella, too, looking thunderstruck. Sir Percival leaned close to me and mouthed, _who is that_?

"Ella," I whispered back. Sir Percival's eyebrows rose. The others looked just as surprised. Percival looked from Ella to me and back, and some glint of understanding mingled with the astonishment on his face. You might think that at such times past teasing wouldn't matter, but I felt myself color nonetheless.

The ogres debated some. "It does seem like a good idea," the leader acknowledged.

I didn't like to leave her in this situation, but if this stood a chance of being resolved without fighting, I might actually be able to save her. Any other way and I was not sure that I could.

"The King would never agree to it. He doesn't trust ogres. I say we just eat her now."

Ella interjected. "I think the King would at least listen. Especially if Areida and I advocate for you."

A female (I think?) ogre looked at her haughtily. "He will think you mad, girl. He will lock you away before murdering us on the spot."

Ella shook her head. "If he is anything like his son, he will be reasonable."

My knights all looked to me in sudden amusement. My eyes were fixed on Ella, an odd feeling mixing with the tension that still raced through me.

The lead ogre's eyes narrowed again. "How do you know the Prince, anyway? I think you are overstating your influence with him."

Ella's eyes widened with fear as he leaned over her. This was perhaps where he'd caught her. And though she wasn't overstating her influence on me at all, she didn't seem to know that. I internally debated racing to her side. "We m-met at my mother's funeral."

"Is that all?"

"A-and again at the royal menagerie."

"_Twice!_" The lead ogre was suddenly outraged. "You've met him _twice_, and you expect us to go along with the most outlandish scheme? Based on trust, you say? I think you are trying to walk us into a trap! You know that you have no power to influence the throne, and they will not listen to you. Perhaps anyone could have met their prince twice! You little _liar!_" And he knocked her off her feet, stalking forward.

The Ayorthan, Areida, I supposed, screamed. I snarled and started to move forward, but my knights yanked me back again before I could break the trees. "Sire, we must move as a unit! Tell us where to go!" Luckily my snarl had been lost in the noise. I prepared to advance.

The ogre towered over Ella.

"No!" She cried. "No, it was more than just that!"

"More?" He guffawed angrily. "It had better be. He had better _love_ you before we –"

"He does!" Ella scrambled away from him.

The ogre paused yet again. "What?"

"He _does_ love me. He loves me. The prince loves me." Her voice was desperate

"He loves you." The ogre was skeptical.

"Yes." Ella got to her feet. As the ogre backed down, my knights and I froze again. I doubted there had ever been such an exchange between ogre and human. Of course, I doubted there had ever been a human quite like Ella before. I watched in astonishment as a debate over my affections determined the fate of the girls before me.

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"What do you even know of him?"

"As I said, we met –"

"I would not try the same strategy, oh tasty morsel. I said, what do you know of him? How do we know you are in love?"

Ella looked down. I did not think the ogres could see down to her level, but I could see her eyes franticly running over the ground before her, as though it contained clues that she could search through.

"Well?"

"He has freckles." Her head snapped up. My brow knit in confusion. "Right here on his nose." She touched her own, then her expression turned contemplative as she looked past the ogres. "I've never seen freckles on skin so dark before, but he has them."

Both the ogres and my knights exchanged glances. I blinked. Did I have freckles? I was surprised she had noticed.

"The first words he ever spoke to me were how he hated his dead cousin." Ella gave a silly smile and wrinkled her nose, then continued, "He has an _atrocious_ accent when he tries to speak any foreign tongue." Sir Aubrey actually grinned. This would have been rather comical if it wasn't so scary a situation, I supposed. Ella allowed herself a little grin, too. "Actually, I tried to teach him goodbye in Ogrese once. He kept asking if I would like to have a roll in the hay by accident." She chuckled. "I didn't have the heart to tell him what he was saying."

At that, all 8 ogres burst out laughing. I saw Areida look at Ella in terrified amusement. This seemed to be working, but it was by no means a sure strategy. I, meanwhile, flushed bright red, and studiously ignored my knights. I hadn't had any idea that I said that to her. Lord, I should really just stick to Kyrrian.

Ella was more thoughtful now. My gaze was transfixed on her, the odd, fluttery feeling growing stronger in my stomach. "He's… very slow to take credit. Even when it's due him. He's kind and brave and generous. He gave me one of the centaur colts from the royal menagerie."

The ogres looked rather impressed at that. "He gave you a royal centaur?"

Areida turned to her, eyes curious. "Ella, he did?"

"You did?" Sir Betram asked me. I nodded numbly. I was kind and brave and generous… was I? I'd heard it before, because anyone is quick to complement royalty. But somehow hearing it from Ella was different. But she was under pressure to act this way, I reminded myself, and I still had a duty to try and protect her from the danger she was in.

"Why would he give her a centaur?" Asked the youngest ogre. "That's not even that big a meal."

"It's big for a human," said one of the females. "A centaur is about twice his size. Think of catching a giant and giving it to one of your friends."

"Oh. Wow."

The lead ogre spoke up again. "All right, so perhaps you know him. And I think perhaps you even love him. But that does not mean he will listen to you. How do we know that he loves you?"

"I do." I strode forward from the trees before my knights could react.

They scrambled to keep up with me. The tension returned in full force to the clearing as the ogres began growling and howling at our sudden appearance. Before any attack could start though, I said, "And I think Ella's plan is a good one. If you are willing to discuss it, I am certainly willing to listen, if it will mean that you will let her and her friend go."

The ogres hesitated. They had the upper hand, but they would suffer losses too in a fight. I prayed that they would go along with us. The leader said slowly, "We are only one band of ogres. There is no king among our kind, and once a different ogre disagrees with you, you will just kill us all."

"No." I shook my head. "Perhaps you are only a small clan, but this is a good idea, and you are a start. Please, release Ella and Areida, and agree to come with us to Frell. We will meet with my father there. But you must promise only to hunt wild game along the way, and not within sight of us."

The ogres looked to each other and conferenced quickly, speaking in rapid ogrese. I looked to Ella for some understanding of what they were saying. She was staring at me. Then the lead ogre looked at me and said, "OK. Yes, we agree, but know that if you go back on your words, things will not go easy for you." He glowered at me for a moment, before looking down at Ella and practically challenging, "You may go to your prince now."

Ella took Areida by the arm and tugged her forward towards us, away from the ogres. Areida stumbled some in relieved haste. Ella held my gaze, her eyes determined, but there was a hint of uncertainty there.

Remembering that we were in love (supposedly), I stepped towards Ella as she dropped Areida's hand. My feet carried me forward in an excellent portrayal of eagerness, I thought, and I took her into my arms, closing my eyes. I sighed in relief.

She hugged me back, and I found myself thinking that it would not be a bad thing to have to keep up appearances on the way home.

"Thank you," she whispered in my ear, barely audible. I pulled back to look into her eyes and tucked her hair behind her ears. Her eyes danced between mine. Her gaze called to me, and I leaned forward and kissed her lips.

My heart pounded when she pressed back, her lips so soft, and I tightened my arms around her, feeling her own pulse race where we were pressed together. Just keeping up appearances, you know. We had a long way back, and 8 skeptical ogres to convince that every word we had spoken was the truth along the way.


End file.
